The Waves

My comrade James and I were off the Coast of North Carolina.  It was mid November, a terrible time for a dive but time was of the essence.  We had come across a discovery that would lead us to quite an amount of money.  About 30 miles off the coast, a ship had sunk about 200 years ago, some old merchants had been shot down.  We had received information that a good sum of collectibles was aboard this ship, so we decided to schedule for a dive today.
We were aboard my small ship, the Honeymoon, when we were preparing.  We both checked each others equipment.  James and I had been diving partners since we were teenagers.  Now in our mid-30's, we had become veterans of the sea.
The sky was a little gray, the sun trying to poke its head out behind the clouds.  Most people would postpone a dive after this, but we were too close to our discovery.  We made our final checks, and jumped in that water.
The feeling of being completely surrounded, in somewhere where your species did not belong always brought chills to my body.  Humans did not belong in the ocean, but we still went in it anyway.  It was somewhat the final frontier, besides space.  I always just floated for a moment when I first dropped in, admiring the pure tenacity of myself to even try this.  We had our sonar to find the ship, and some rough coordinates.  We began swimming.  The water was awfully murky, and we cautiously went forward.  There was no way to communicate except for tapping your tank with a knife, so when I came across something, or James did, we would hear a loud clunk.
We swam and swam, the minutes counting down.  We had limited time with our oxygen, and time was running out. 
After what seemed like hours we finally bumped into the ship, literally.  The water was so murky I could not even see my own hands.  I kept my knife in my hand.  Something didn't feel right.  James tried to pry open the planks on the side, but couldn't.  Luckily I had always brought a crowbar with me, and we popped the rotting wood open with almost no effort at all.
Inside was nothing.  Sand covered the bottom, any existence of human life was gone in the ship.  We dug our hands in the sand looking for anything of value, but nothing was found.  I was still digging when I heard James tapping his tank furiously.  I went towards the sound, and what I found was sickening.
An eel had bitten off his hand while he was searching, that dreaded red mist was floating around blinding me.  I was still holding my knife, and jabbed the eel in the head, right between the eyes.  Even more blood spread, and I knew we were going to be screwed if any other predators were around.  I grabbed James and started swimming toward the door we had made.  My heart was pumping, I knew I was wasting oxygen but I didn't care.  James was probably going to get infected with all this murky water going into his open wound.  We swam, I don't remember what direction, but away from that terrible ship.  We kept going.
When I knew we were going to run out of air, we started going up.  Up and up, towards that ceiling that meant freedom.  James was out now, just a lifeless sack that was bringing me down.  He was getting so heavy...
But I kept going.  I couldn't leave him.  Our boat was going to be at the surface, I knew it.  Honeymoon seemed like heaven. 
Finally my arms were giving out, and I had to make a decision.  I left him there, and I curse myself to this very day.  I know he is floating around there, or in some terrible creatures stomach.
I made my way to the surface, my lungs about to burst.  My oxygen had run out, and I had to hold my breath half the way up.  It was complete torture.
When I reached air, I wanted to cry.
The sky was black, the waves and ocean were furious. Honeymoon was nowhere to be found.  The impending doom that I felt was like a thousand pounds on my shoulders.  I treaded water, waiting for death.  I kept swimming, just trying to keep afloat.  I thought about James, and began sobbing.  I had left my best friend behind, selfishly.  This was my punishment.  Lightning lit the sky on fire, and thunder boomed like Zeus screaming in anger.  I knew this was it.
Then I saw her.  Honeymoon, a way across, floating idly.  I began swimming furiously toward her.
I swam and swam, my arms felt like acid and burned like a thousand fires, but I kept going.  I finally reached her, and tried to pull myself up.  I was too weak.  My arms were rubber, and I could not even keep myself afloat now.  I felt so bad.  This was it.  My legs gave out, and my arms tried for a moment to keep me up.
I started falling, my air had run out forever ago, and I just held my breath.  I watched slowly as the bottom of my ship became smaller and smaller.  Then a red mist surrounded me, and I felt my body going up. 
I woke up later, in my bed aboard the Honeymoon.  My gear was laying beside me, I felt exhausted.  My body was completely burned out.  I tried to rise up, but the moving boat and the weakling I was prevented me from getting up.  I fell into a deep sleep again.
I woke up once more, and this time I had some strength.  Thunder was still booming, and walked out the door.  James had the wheel, his missing arm tied off with some sheets.  Somehow he was still alive.  I walked over to him and gave him a giant hug.  He jumped, not expecting me.  It was pouring down rain, and we were completely lost.  We thought about what to do next.